Climate change experts from the Tyndall Climate Research Centre in Britain have said urgent action is needed to curb the rapid growth in air travel if the government is to meet its commitments on tackling global warming. This report from Stephen Evans:
Falling ticket prices and rising incomes are leading to rapid growth in global air travel. According to the British government, the number of British air passengers, for example, will more than double in the next quarter of a century. Increases of such an order would mean much more aviation fuel being burned and aviation fuel may be more harmful to the environment than other fuels because the resulting smoke is emitted at high altitudes.
A group of scientists at the environmental research group, the Tyndall Centre, says that if Britain is to meet its overall target for cutting damaging emissions, other uses of fuel like for heating homes or driving cars would have to be cut dramatically.
The British government wants the use of aviation fuel covered by international agreement on the environment. The difficulty for any individual government is that taxing fuel used at its own airports might push airlines to move their operations to competing airports in other countries.Which statement is TRUE?
| A．A lot of people around the world have recently stopped flying because they have less money to spend and the price of plane tickets is going up |
| B．Half as many people as today will fly in the next 25 years. |
| C．Because more planes are suing more flight petrol and more pollution is being produced in the sky. |
| D．The British government would like all countries to agree not to tax airline fuel. |
Which is the reason that leads to the rapid growth in global air travel?
| A．The increase of incomes and the decrease of ticket prices. |
| B．The growth of the number of good planes. |
| C．The falling of the oil price. |
| D．The encouragement of the governments. |
The Tyndall Centre says ________.
| A．the number of British air passengers will more than double in the next quarter of a century. |
| B．Britain will have to use less energy at home and on the roads to meet the goal of cutting pollution. |
| C．If airports are taxed for using fuel by each country’s government, then airlines might use other airports with cheaper fuel taxes. |
| D．Only the use of aviation fuel needs to be cut down to meet the overall target for cutting damaging emissions. |
What’s the best title of the text?
| A．Falling Ticket Prices and Rising Incomes |
| B．Growth in Air Travel Harms Environment |
| C．Rapid Growth in Global Air Travel |
| D．More Flight Petrol, More smoke |
An epic① love story, set against the sweeping landscapes of Wyoming and Texas, that tells the story of two young men — a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy — who meet in the summer of 1963 while driving cattle on a mountain range. They unexpectedly develop a lifelong connection, one whose complications②, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love.
| Production Status: Released Genres: Drama, Romance and Western Running Time: 2 hrs. 14 min. Release Date: December 9th, 2005 (NY/LA/SF) MPAA Rating: R for sexuality, language and some violence. Production Co.: Focus Features, River Road Entertainment Studios: Universal Pictures Filming Locations: Calgary, Canada Produced in: United States Cast and CreditsStarring: Linda Cardellini, Kate Mara, Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle WilliamsDirected by: Ang Lee Produced by: Michael Costigan, Michael Hausman, Larry McMurtry ActorsLinda Cardellini Cassie CartwrightJake Gyllenhaal Jack Twist Heath Ledger Ennis Del Mar Michelle Williams Alma Anne Hathaway Lureen Randy Quaid Joe Aguirre |
WritersLarry McMurtry Screenplay (Adaptation)Diana Ossana Screenplay (Adaptation) E. Annie Proulx Source Material (from short story: “Brokeback Mountain”) Diana Ossana Screenwriter Show times (on Jan. 25)Embarcadero1 Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA, 9411112:00, 12:30, 2:00, 3:00, 3:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:00, 8:30, 9:30, 10:00BAM Rose Cinemas30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 112174:15, 7:00, 9:45 Pacific’s The Grove Stadium 14189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 900361:25 Loews Dupont Circle 51350 19th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036(2:00), (3:00), (5:00), 6:00, 8:00, 9:00 |
Notes:
①epic adj. 英雄的
②complication n. 复杂化According to the passage, Brokeback Mountain is mainly about ______.
| A．language study | B．love | C．violence | D．funny story |
The film Brokeback Mountain is mainly from short story by ______.
| A．Ang Lee | B．Michelle Williams | C．Diana Ossana | D．E. Annie Proulx |
According to the passage, the natural sights in Brokeback Mountain was filmed in ______.
| A．America | B．Canada | C．China | D．Mexico |
If you live in New York on Jan. 25, you’d better enjoy the film in ______.
| A．Loews Dupont Circle 5 | B．Pacific’s The Grove Stadium 14 |
| C．Embarcadero | D．BAM Rose Cinemas |
Zinedine Zidane, who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month, has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.
Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany’s Leverkusen 2－1.
He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy’s Juventus for US $ 66 million. And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3－0 defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.
But despite his success, Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground. He leads a quiet family life, there is hardly any gossip① about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight②.
“Just because I’m a public figure it doesn’t mean I have to express myself on everything. I don’t like to discuss some personal matters publicly.” he said.
Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille, France, where he was raised by his Algerian parents, Zidane was shy.
He loved football even as a little kid. “I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.
Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread, Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.
Before he was 10 years old, it was obvious that he could become a great footballer. He was offered his first professional contract③when he was just 20. Now, at the age of 29, he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards.
This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup. But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he’ll do this time.
Notes:
①gossip n. 流言蜚语
②spotlight n. 聚光灯
③contract n. 合同What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that _______.
| A．he could become a great footballer |
| B．he could become rich if he became a footballer |
| C．football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking |
| D．football is a favorite sport in the future |
According to the article, what are Zidane’s main characteristics?
| A．He is a shy but successful man. |
| B．He loves his wife and children. |
| C．He doesn’t like to speak in public. |
| D．He is a quiet, down-to-earth person of few words. |
When the writer says “Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”, he means that _______.
| A．Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days |
| B．Zidane is a down-to-earth person |
| C．Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch |
| D．Zidane likes standing when he succeeds |
The sentence “Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich” means ________.
| A．football made Zidane’s poor family wealthy when he was a child |
| B．Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child |
| C．football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family |
| D．Zidane knew that if he wanted 10 be rich he must play football from childhood |
NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed lander on Mars’ icy north pole to search for clues①for water and possible signs of life.
The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples②to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface.
Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes③existed in the ice.
Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. “The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars analogous to the permafrost regions on Earth,” Peter Smith said.
True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous④missions. The lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet’s south pole after its rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.
The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic camera and a trench-digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later.
Notes:
①clue n. 线索
②sample n. 标本，样品
③microbe n. 微生物
④previous adj. 先前的The passage mainly tells readers that _________.
| A．clues of water will be found in Phoenix |
| B．Phoenix will be sent to find clues of water on Mars |
| C．August 2007 will see Phoenix lift off |
| D．the Mars Scout program will be carried out |
The underlined word “prematurely” (paragraph 5) means _________.
| A．on time | B．behind the time | C．out of work | D．ahead of time |
According to the passage, we know Phoenix will land on Mars _________.
| A．in May 2008 | B．in August 2007 |
| C．in August 2008 | D．in September 2008 |
According to the passage, the name “Phoenix” is after the meaning of _________.
| A．rebirth | B．death | C．energy | D．hope |
After Phoenix lands on Mars, we can infer it will firstly _________.
| A．find soil samples and send them to the earth |
| B．look for the icy land to dig for the soil samples |
| C．take photos and send them to the earth |
| D．find the remains of the Mars Polar Lander |
CALCUTTA, IndiaMar 24, 2006(AP) —One of the world’s oldest creatures, a giant tortoise believed to have been about 250 years old, has died in the Calcutta zoo where it spent more than half its long life.
Addwaita, which means “the one and only” in the local Bengali language, was one of four Aldabra tortoises brought to India by British sailors in the 18th century. Zoo officials say he was a gift for Lord Robert Clive of the East India Company, who was instrumental in establishing British colonial① rule in India, before he returned to England in 1767. Long after the other three tortoises died, Addwaita continued to thrive②, living in Clive’s garden before being moved to the zoo in 1875.
“According to records in the zoo, the age of the giant tortoise, Addwaita, who died on Wednesday, would be about 250 years,” said zoo director Subir Chowdhury. That would have made him much older than the world’s oldest documented③ living animal: Harriet, a 176-year-old Galapagos tortoise who lives at the Australia Zoo north of Brisbane, according to the zoo’s Web site. She was taken from the island of Isla Santa Cruz by Charles Darwin in the 19th century.
Aldabra tortoises come from the Aldabra atoll④in the Seychelle islands in the Indian Ocean, and often live to more than 100 years of age. Males can weigh up to 550 pounds. Addwaita, the zoo’s biggest attraction, had been unwell for the last few days, said local Forest Minister Jogesh Burman.
“We were keeping a watch on him. When the zoo keepers went to his enclosure on Wednesday they found him dead,” Burman said.
Notes:
①colonial adj. 殖民的
②thrive v. 茁壮成长
③documented adj. 备有证明文件的
④atoll n. 环礁
Choose the best answers according to the above:According to the passage, Addwaita ________.
| A．was sent to India as a gift by British government |
| B．was sent to India by British sailors in 1767 |
| C．lived together with three other Aldabra tortoises in India |
| D．belonged to Lord Robert Clive for some time |
By now, the oldest animal in the world is about at ________.
| A．176 years old | B．100 years old | C．250 years old | D．200 years old |
In the last few days before Addwaita died, he ________.
| A．had been sent to hospital for treatment |
| B．had been playing with travelers |
| C．had been found not better than before |
| D．had stayed in his enclosure for days |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．An Old Aldabra Tortoise Died in India |
| B．A Remarkable Life: Tortoise Dies at 250 |
| C．A Special Kind of Tortoise — Addwaita |
| D．The Oldest Animal Aldabra Tortoise Died |
In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players.
When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball. This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters① will be filled by non-Americans. NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend. On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010.
The NBA is now planning to take China by storm.
“Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,” said Stern. The strategy② in China is television. “We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite.” The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China. The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai. The NBA knows that it needs a global market to compensate for tough times on home soil.
“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout③ internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations. “It has increased the level of competition here.” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers. Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming — number one draft pick in 2002 —and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic —number two overall in this year’s draft —are icons④in-waiting. It is the ultimate⑤ revolution — the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball.
Notes:
①roster n. 花名册
②strategy n. 战略，策略
③scout vt. 寻找，觅得
④icon n. 偶像
⑤ultimate adj. 最后的，根本的
Choose the best answers according to the above: According to the report, ___.
| A．Michael Jordan is still playing a very important role in NBA |
| B．the part played by the foreign players in NBA will be great |
| C．Yao Ming is to play two pre-season games in NBA |
| D．European countries will host the 2004 NBA games |
The underlined phrase “take China by storm” has the meaning of ___.
| A．NBA intends to make China its “marketing center” |
| B．NBA is planning to set up some training centers in China |
| C．there’ll be a big storm when NBA comes to China to play against the Sacramento Kings |
| D．the NBA’s live basket games will be broadcasted on all the TVs in China |
. What seems to be the biggest change that is happening to NBA?
A. NBA is expecting more foreign players to join the league.
B. China’s rapid development in sports affects NBA.
C. Yao Ming has taken the place of Michael Jordan.
D. The NBA will stop teaching the world how to play basketball. When the writer talked of “home soil”, he was referring to __.
| A．farms in the States | B．native Americans |
| C．the NBA training center | D．the USA |
Which of the following can be used as the best title for the passage?
| A．The Non-American Basketball Players | B．NBA Is Coming to China |
| C．The Foreign Ties That Bind the NBA | D．NBA Is Making Big Progress |